My Emmy Nominations

Back in March, I did a post with all my Oscar nominations,and now it's time to do the same for the Emmys. The actual nominations are out next week, but here's what I think they should be. Now, I'm a bit handicapped because I can only put down people who are on shows that I actually watch, but there's a pretty solid mix of shows. In some cases, I chose to combine comedy and drama, just because I don't watch that many shows and I wanted to put people down who actually have done good work. And, rather than doing seperate writing and directing catergories, I combined them into a Best Episode catergory. And one final note, the eligibility period was June 1, 2005 to May 31, 2006, which means that a couple of shows that are now gone are making the return here. On to the awards...

Supporting Actor (Comedy):
Will Arnette - 'Gob' on Arrested Development
Michael Cera - 'George Michael' on Arrested Development
David Cross - 'Tobias' on Arrested Development
Kevin Dillon - 'Johnny Drama' on Entourage
David Sutcliffe - 'Christopher' on Gilmore Girls


Arrested clearly had a lot of fantastic performances, but the most consistently funny one on the show is Michael Cera as George Michael. His bizarre relationship with Maebe in the final few episodes of the series gave him some of his best material and he managed to get huge laughs by underplaying the material.

Supporting Actress (Comedy):
Kelly Bishop - 'Emily' on Gilmore Girls
Alexis Bledel - 'Rory' on Gilmore Girls
Portia De Rossi - 'Lindsay' on Arrested Development
Alia Shawkat - 'Maebe' on Arrested Development
Jessica Walter - 'Lucille' on Arrested Development


Two of the people in this category are basically playing the same character, Kelly Bishop and Jessica Walter, the only difference is that one lives in a relatively real world and the other lives in a crazy cartoon world. However, I think the best performance here is by Portia de Rossi who went to such weird places in the final few episodes of the series.

Supporting Actor (Drama):
James Callis - 'Gaius Baltar' on Battlestar Galactica
Michael Imperioli - 'Christopher' on The Sopranos
Chris Messina - 'Ted' on Six Feet Under
Tony Sirico - 'Paulie' on The Sopranos
Jeremy Sisto - 'Billy' on Six Feet Under

This is a category with a ton of worthy people, you could easily get five from the cast of The Sopranos alone. However, the winner here is Michael Imperioli, who always remained emotionally intense even when the show started to drift towards the end of the season. His lingering issues about Adrianna's death and the direction of his life provided some of the season's best material.

Supporting Actress (Drama):
Tricia Helfer - 'Six' on Battlestar Galactica
Tina Holmes - 'Maggie' on Six Feet Under
Grace Park - 'Sharon' on Battlestar Galactica
Katie Sackhoff - 'Kara' on Battlestar Galactica
Grace Zabriskie - 'Lois' on Big Love

Another catergory with a surplus of great performances, however the best is Grace Park, who had to create two seperate, but very similar characters and pulled it off entirely. She provided the best moments in the weak run during the second half of the season and her work at the end of the year, particularly in Downloaded was fantastic. She's one of those people who makes every scene they're in great.

Actor:
James Gandolfini - 'Tony' on The Sopranos
Michael C. Hall - 'David' on Six Feet Under
Peter Krause - 'Nate' on Six Feet Under
Julian McMahon - 'Christian' on Nip/Tuck
Kiefer Sutherland - 'Jack Bauer' on 24

For me, Peter Krause is Nate, I don't watch him and say "That's a great performance," I just see it as someone who exists and is living his life. While the Oscars usually reward stuff like Ray or Capote, where you're always aware of watching a 'great performance,' I think the best acting is like Krause's, where there is no apparent line between the character and the person. His angst during the early part of the season leads to the absolutely brutal breakup with Brenda on his death bed. He went through a lot this season, and I would consider Krause's work as Nate over the course of the series the greatest television performance of all time.

Actress:
Lauren Ambrose - 'Claire' on Six Feet Under
Kristen Bell - 'Veronica' on Veronica Mars
Edie Falco - 'Carmela' on The Sopranos
Lauren Graham - 'Lorelai' on Gilmore Girls
Rachel Griffiths - 'Brenda' on Six Feet Under

This is the best bunch of performances of any of the acting categories, and if you compare it to the best actress nominations at the Oscars, it's pretty clear that women are getting much more to do on TV. Falco and Graham did some of their best work this year, but no one can top Rachel Griffiths, and her work as Brenda. Take everything I said about Krause above and repeat it, because she does the same level of brilliant work. The thought of her going through this extended story about miscarriages and possible genetic disease while actually pregnant is crazy, but she takes it and does some of her best work. The one scene that stands out for me is the dream where she and Billy are about to have sex, it's such a creepy scene, but she handles it perfectly. Brilliant work.

Episode (Comedy):
Arrested Development – ‘Development Arrested’
Entourage – ‘I Love You Too’
Gilmore Girls – ‘I Get a Sidekick Out of You’
Gilmore Girls – ‘Partings’
Gilmore Girls – ‘The New and Improved Lorelai’

Obviously, Gilmore Girls had a lot of great stuff, but the best comedy episode of the season was the insanity of Development Arrested, which saw the series spin further into craziness then it had gone before. They knew they were cancelled, so Hurwitz and co. took this as the opportunity to break down all the taboos and go to a very odd place. It's very satisfying as a series finale, with the biggest highlight being the return of Anyong. It was a great way to go out.

Episode (Drama):
Battlestar Galactica – ‘Downloaded’
Six Feet Under – ‘Ecotone’
Six Feet Under – ‘Everyone’s Waiting’
The Sopranos – ‘Join the Club’
The Sopranos – Mr. and Mrs. Sacrimoni Request…’

The final five minutes of the series were its best, but the best episode of Six Feet Under's final season, and the best episode of the year, was Ecotone, one of the most intense and brutal episodes of any series. This went to a lot of the same territory as Buffy's The Body, but with its glimpse into a parallel universe and dream ending, it goes to a uniquely Six Feet Under place. Nate breaking up wtih Brenda and the dream were both highlights, but it was that final white screen that left me totally overwhelmed. Nate had quite a journey, and this was an incredible way to go out.

Series (Comedy):
Arrested Development
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
Gilmore Girls
Weeds

It's odd to give the best comedy award to Gilmore Girls, because this season went to a very dark place and stayed there, culminating in an all falls apart finale, but the show's in the comedy category, so content be damned, it shall win. This season saw the best work from Lauren Graham, taking Lorelai in a darker direction, first with the strain between Rory and Lorelai, then with the strain between Lorelai and Luke. This is a great example of a show staying fresh by exploring new territory, and even if the show loses something wtih the Palladinos, at least they went out on a high note.

Series (Drama):
Battlestar Galactica
Big Love
Six Feet Under
The Sopranos
24

For the final five minutes alone, Six Feet Under deserves this award. No show provided has ever provided as satisfying a conclusion as the jump into the future. But, the entire season took those kind of creative risks, Nate and Brenda's arc, Claire's time in the office, the chaos 'Static' and the sadness of 'Ecotone.' All fantastic stuff. When this was airing, Sunday night became the highlight of my week. It was the second strongest season of the show's run and a perfect conclusion for one of the greatest series of all time.

Total (Wins)
Six Feet Under - 10 (4)
Arrested Development - 8 (3)
Gilmore Girls - 7 (1)
The Sopranos - 7 (1)
Battlestar Galactica - 6 (1)
Entourage - 3
24 - 2
Big Love - 2
Nip/Tuck - 1
Veronica Mars - 1
Weeds - 1
Curb Your Enthusiasm - 1

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Superman Returns

I don't know what it says about your film when the best thing about it is the font in the opening credits. The font is very 70s, but in a really cool way and I loved the way it zoomed right into the camera. You just don't see that pop a font used in most of today's films. And, I believe the only reason it was in this one was because it's the font that was used in 1979's Superman.

My big issue with this movie is that it doesn't function as a standalone film. Now, I don't know that it'd be a good idea to do yet another take on the Superman origin story, but, having seen the Donner film roughly ten years ago, I definitely felt like I was missing something here. There's not much character development here, the film just drops you into the world that was created in the Donner films and moves from there. Now, we get all the basics, but emotionally, there's no particular reason to care about any of these people.

The primary issue with any Superman story is that he's an invulnerable superhuman. This is a guy who can lift a whole crystal island into space, there's no way that anyone can hurt him, other than with kryptonite, so there's very little tension for most of the film. Because Superman can't be hurt, you have to build tension in a way other than the threat of physical violence to the protagonist. They attempt to do this through his relationship with Lois Lane, but I had no real emotional stake in whether they got together.

Another major issue is Lex Luthor, who's definitely the most fun character in the film, but also feels totally disconnected from Superman. His evil plan is so ridiculous, and the way it resolves is not particularly involving. He's just sort of defeated and then the movie ends. Luthor and Superman only have one brief scene together, again, Singer seems to be relying on our foreknowledge of their relationship rather than what's actually present in this film.

If this film is meant to be a sequel to the two Donner films, that's cool, but it's been 25 years, and those films weren't exactly great to begin with. The film reminds me a lot of King Kong in that the director lets his childhood love for a film get in the way of making something that's fresh and accessible to new audiences. Singer may dig the Donner films, but do we need to what a 2.5 hour homage to that love. If 25 years have passed, your film needs to stand on its own a bit better than this one did.

Superman is a writer's worst nightmare, because his powers remove the tension from nearly every narrative situation. The attempts to build tension, such as the piano scene and the drowning scene, felt totally stock, and my awareness of the attempt to build tension removed any tension from the scene.

So, when building a Superman movie, you've got two options. One is to focus more on the villains, sort of like Batman Returns. That was a film about how people defined themselves in opposition to Batman, and in that one film, we got three fully developed characters who are infinitely more complex and entertaining to watch than anything in this movie.

Alternatively, you can explore Superman as a God among men. It's absurd that this guy would even bother to have a secret identity, let alone work a full time job in a newspaper when he could be out saving people. The various Superman knockoffs, such as Miracleman or Supreme, are infinitely more exciting than the man himself because they are more open to commentary on what it's like to be a god. That's the difference between Superman and a Batman or Spiderman, this is not an ordinary guy, it's someone way beyond human, so don't try to tell stories about how Superman is just a regular joe with the same problems as you or I. This film was clearly inspired by the Spiderman relationship dynamic, but it lacked the emotional pull of that film, where we got to see a person who's a man first and a hero second. Here, we see someone who can do anything, and doesn't seem to really care whether he winds up with Lois.

Of course, my reading of this film is colored by Morrison's work in Seven Soldiers. Seven Soldiers is all about the gritty underbelly of a superhero world, and it's a lot more exciting to examine that than to watch this film. I was expecting the film to feel too long, but it didn't, it actually felt like there was barely anything in it. We were at the conclusion before the story seemed to really get going.

There are a few great moments, such as Superman in the stadium, taking in the cheers, and Superman up in the sun, but other than that, it was the font that was the real highlight. Plus, you just sort of have to accept it, but it seemed totally ridiculous that no one would realize that Clark and Superman returned at the same time, then look at a picture of the two of them and piece together that it's the same guy. They jokingly nod to it, but it was just so ridiculous it distracted from the film.

I feel like blockbusters lately have been shorn of all their edge, focus grouped to carefully appeal to all sectors of the market and provide inoffensive fun that doesn't make you think too hard. I feel like the only artistically notable summer blockbuster of recent years is Revenge of the Sith, a film that has such scope, both narrative and visual, it really does feel like watching a galaxy tear itself apart. This film strives for the visual and emotional majesty that Sith reached, but doesn't even come close.

But, I suppose this is a film that's primarily about letting people relive their love of the Donner movies. So, if I was a child of the 70s, instead of of the 80s, perhaps I'd be loving it. All I know is if there's one superhero series that had two good films then went horribly awry and deserves a real third movie, it's Tim Burton's Batman films. It's absurd to make a sequel to a 25 year old alright movie, when a series that just 15 years ago provided the definitive film take on its character is totally ignored.

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Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein #4 and Wrap Up

So, it's on to the second to last issue of the Seven Soldiers project, the totally insane Frankenstein #4. I've always felt that the real fun of action sequences isn't in the scene itself, it's in the buildup, the moments where you know something's going to go down, but you're not quite sure what yet. This is issue is that buildup for Seven Soldiers #1, finally bringing us to direct conflict with the Sheeda.

The opening page of the issue has more of the fantastic pulpy narration that Morrison's employed throughout the series. The character is just so badass in this issue, starting with his battle with Neh-Buh-Loh. After appearing in most of the minis, Frank finally puts him down. I haven't read the JLA: Classified issue that serves as a prelude for Seven Soldiers but it appears that a death virus was injected into Neh-Buh-Loh, and this weakness is what causes him to spare Misty, a choice that may bring about the Sheeda's destruction. I love Neh-Buh-Loh's conflict here, it brings a lot of stuff we've seen together. Plus, Frankenstein downloading info from the internet is great.

Jumping locations, we pick up with Frankenstein targetting the Sheeda in Miracle Mile. I like the fact that they return here for the final confrontation, it gives nice symmetry to the minis, and leads me to believe that the characters from SS0 will play a role in the resolution in SS1.

The jump to One Billion Years Later is such a crazy moment. There's so much insane pop over the top stuff in this issue, a particular highlight is the caption: "All in a day's work...for Frankenstein!" You can practically hear an over the top narrator going crazy on that line.

What this issue confirms is that the Sheeda come from the future, and have been jumping back in time to raze human societies at various points in human history, trying to use the destruction of our culture as a way to re-energize their own. In the apple speech, Gloriana brings things back to the parent/child metaphor. She claims that what the Sheeda are just doing what humans have always done, they had to in order to survive for so long.

The apple scene is another fairy tale tie in, Gloriana is the wicked stepmother archetype, quite literally for Frankenstein, who is actually Melmoth's son. She offers Frankenstein power, but he's someone who's so utterly committed to his work that nothing could sway him. Each of the characters has a moment where they can choose to abandon their quest, or to keep doing good, and this is it for Frankenstein. The exploding ships on the next page provide a definitive answer, Frankenstein is not going to be swayed by Gloriana.

The end of the issue has such ridiculous momentum, everything's going crazy, building up to the final confrontation between Frankenstein and the Queen. I was hoping this issue wouldn't end, but alas, it did and we go into Seven Soldiers #1 with Gloriana about to go into the undying waters. Will she make it or will Frankenstein stop her?

There's a ton of stuff still to resolve in Seven Soldiers #1. The issue's been bumped up to 48 pages, but I'm assuming that a lot of plot threads will remain unresolved. Everyone except for Frankenstein is in New York, so I'm guessing that Gloriana will escape to New York, Frank will follow her and meet up with everyone else there. I know Grant has said that the seven soldiers would never meet, but I'm not sure if that applied only to the minis, or to issue 1 as well. I'm assuming that Bulleteer needs to meet up with someone to turn back to the hero's path. Though, it's possible she'll run into the Whip. The two are similar character types and having Shelly return would give the project a nice symmetry.

The overall story is actually pretty close to its end, so the major issue will be giving each character an appropriate sendoff. I think it's a great testament to Grant's writing that I would love to read an ongoing series for nearly all the characters, in particular I would love Grant to do more with Zatanna and Misty.

This project had a lot of Grant's classic themes, extradimensional beings, meta commentary on the nature of fiction and characters moving into dimensions of higher consciousness, it also brought in some major new themes with the exploration of sexuality and growing up. There's good growth and bad growth, the characters who find their own way are able to grow up well, but the characters who have adulthood or sexuality forced upon them all wind up messed up. This is what happens to the Newsboy Army, to Sally Sonic and even to Alix, who is ultimately unable to adjust to the life that Lance forced on her.

I loved this project so much because of the way it uses a variety of generic approaches to comment on the same themes. Most of the minis wouldn't quite hang together as a standalone read, but by reading them as part of the overall project, you get a better understanding of the thematic development. I think DC acknowledged that the project is not seven miniseries, it's one overall story in the way they traded it, intercutting the issues in publication order. It really is one big story.

And, just to wrap things up for now, here's my ranking of the minis and some final thoughts on each.

1. Zatanna - This was one of the best things Grant ever wrote, the first issue was full of inventive visual imagery and did a great job of introducing our heroine's dilemma, and by the time we reach the brilliant issue four, I had a complete picture of Zatanna and Misty's relationship. The last issue was the best issue in the entire project because it was mindblowing on a conceptual level and deeply affecting emotionally. Zatanna's reunion with her father is the strongest emotional moment in the entire project.

2. Manhattan Guardian - The first three issues were pretty good, but this high ranking is primarily due to the final issue, which creates an entire world and a vivid cast of characters then destroys it, all in 22 pages. Jake's arc is well done, and that last issue does provide some nice closure for him, despite barely featuring him.

3. Bulleteer - This one returns to the territory Morrison explored in one of his best projects, Flex Mentallo, but spins those concepts through the themes of Seven Soldiers. Issue 3 is the best, but the whole mini excels at depicting this world of b-list superheroes struggling to make it big.

4. Shining Knight - The art in this mini was an aesthetic wonder, and it has some of the most interesting stuff on the Sheeda themselves. Gloriana's emergence in issue 3 is fantastic, though I also love Justin claiming the role of hero in issue 2.

5. Frankenstein - This was another great mini, going so far over the top with its pulpy captions you can't help but enjoy it. The whole mini gives us fantastic action sequences and I love Frankenstein's parental conflict with Melmoth. That fit wonderfully into the thematics of the project as a whole.

6. Klarion the Witch Boy - Issue 2 was great, but this one never clicked for me. The art was great, but the main character was rather annoying. If one of the soldiers has to go, I would vote for Klarion.

7. Mister Miracle - This one might get bumped up on a reread, but on the first read, it felt too disconnected from the project as a whole and was tough to follow, making it difficult to emotionally relate to the character. Still, the last issue redeemed a lot of the issues and I think it could improve greatly on a reread.

And now, it's time to wait for Seven Soldiers #1 and the conclusion of this thing.

The Complete Seven Soldiers Post Index

Seven Soldiers #0

Shining Knight #1-2, Manhattan Guardian #1, Zatanna #1, Klarion #1

Manhattan Guardian #2-3, Zatanna #2, Shining Knight #3, Klarion #2-3

Shining Knight #4, Zatanna #3

Manhattan Guardian #4

Klarion #4, Mister Miracle #1, Bulleteer #1

Zatanna #4

Frankenstein #1, Mister Miracle #2, Bulleteer #2

Frankenstein #2, Mister Miracle #3 and Bulleteer #3

Frankenstein #3, Mister Miracle #4 and Bulleteer #4

Frankenstein #4 and Wrap Up

Seven Soldiers: The Flaws that Make Perfection

Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle

Seven Soldiers #1

Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein #3, Mister Miracle #4, Bulleteer #4

I'm now all caught up on the issues that have been released so far, and it's looking like a nasty wait until issue #1 turns up. I'm hoping it'll be out by September. I'm sure the art by J.H. Williams will be worth the wait, he's going to have quite the task, to wrap up all seven stories in a satisfactory way. There's a ton of stuff to cover, and everyone seems to have different favorite characters that they want to see followed up on.

But, on to the issues themselves. Frankenstein #3 continues the character's journey through a crazy pulp horror world. I love the narration in this mini, going incredibly over the top, I love this bit: "Swirling fog. Bizarre inhuman cries. A mystery for Frankenstein!" Great stuff, I would love to see an ongoing series following Frankenstein's bizarre adventures, but I've also said that about nearly every other mini so far.

This storyline seems to be a twisted version of We3, with its cute bunnies and birds infected by a demon water. The story itself is similar to the cruise ship story from The Filth and Manhattan Guardian #3, all show how one corrupting element from the outside can destroy a closed community. This issue has a very X-Files vibe, as the government organization turns up and razes the town.

But the real fun of the issue is seeing Frankenstein confronted with the modern world, in the form of his lost mate, The Bride. I love the way she's designed, the four arms is a great touch and the two of them make a great couple in the brilliant "And Frankenstein deals death!" page.

With her appearance, we're back to the conflict between old and new. Frankenstein's ways have become outdated, but he is unable to update. It's a lot of fun watching Frankenstein kill the mutant cows, but the issue only has tangential relevance to the piece as a whole. The most significant thing is the fact that Frankenstein clings to his very strict view of good and evil, he can't fit in with S.H.A.D.E who are totally cynical, willing to do whatever has to be done to get the job done. Frankenstein's is an older style of heroism, and it's unclear whether there's a place for it in the modern world.

Mister Miracle #4 is a perplexing issue for me. I really need to do a reread of this mini because I didn't get a lot of what's going on in it. One of my big issues is the way that it's totally unrelated from the rest of the piece in terms of story, there are some thematic connections, but unlike the other books, we could have easily done without Mister Miracle.

The way I read it, the entire miniseries took place while Shilo was in the black hole, he's confronted with the anti-life equation as an inoculation, a test, and is then thrown out of the black hole ready to free the New Gods. So, the stuff we saw last issue was just one manifestation of this anti-life equation, confronting Shilo with the loss of his individuality, through the imposter Mister Miracle, and the loss of everyone he loves, to the plastification process.

Here, he confronts another trauma, the death of his brother Aaron, which he feels responsible for. You could read the entire miniseries as a chronicle of Shilo's fears and insecurities, all of which stem from the death of his brother. That's why we haven't heard about it before, because it took a while to dig through the surface concerns and find his deepest traumas.

As the issue proceeds, Shilo moves through a variety of parallel universes, confronted with all his fears. I did really enjoy the issue as I was reading it, it's only trying to piece things together that becomes difficult. This is an issue that you really need to break down and analyze before you can enjoy it.

Shilo's confrontation with Oracle brings back the motif of the spear not thrown, which ties back to Alix's decision not to be the seventh soldier at Miracle Mesa. I like the way Shilo's work as an escape artist is tied into him fleeing from his responsibilities. Death becomes the ultimate escpae, and he could choose to give in rather than be thrown through this endless series of increasingly degraded parallel existences. So, Shilo ends up confronting the fundamental force of restriction, a brilliant classic Morrison idea. By liberating restriction itself, he's able to overcome the anti-life equation and pass the test that Metron gave him. Shilo returns to the world, and the last page implies that Shilo has come to terms with his brother's death. So, much like the end of Zatanna, Shilo overcomes the psychological issues that were holding him back and emerges ready to battle the Sheeda.

I'm not sure if the New Gods stuff will be present in Seven Soldiers #1, I'd assume not, but we'll probably get some hint of the Sheeda as a manifestation of Dark Side. I'm going to give this mini another read, now that I know the basic structure, it should be easier to follow, and it'll be easier to enjoy outside of the expectations of forwarding the overall Seven Soldiers story.

On to the conclusion of Bulleteer, my favorite of the second run of minis. I mentioned before that this mini is structured a lot like Manhattan Guardian, and this issue is another notable example of that, as we follow the secret sex history of a supporting character, in this case Sally Sonic. I don't think this issue is quite as strong as Manhattan Guardian #4, which stands as my second favorite issue in the entire project, but it's a great conclusion to the themes and narrative of this mini.

I think the critical thing in reading this issue is the way that Sally's story functions as a what if for Alix, this is the person that Alix could have become if she'd allowed Lance to enact his will on her.

However, the first few pages are all about naive Golden Age superheroics, fragments of life from an age that's gone. In the DCU, the past really was this magical place where you can fly around with your teddy bear sidekick. I like the way that parallels peoples' idealized versions of the past in our world. People ignore the darkness of the era when constructing our view of the 1950s nuclear family. It's tough watching Sally lose everyone she loves and then be unable to grow up. She's got the same dilemma as Li'l Hollywood and Baby Brain, an inability to grow beyond her childlike appearance. In the series, adulthood is generally seen as corrupting and dangerous, as in Klarion #3, but perpetual childhood is not an answer either. There's two kinds of growing up, one is to have adulthood forced upon you, as happened to the Newsboy Army with the time tailor, the other is a more gradual growth and claiming of adult responsibility. That's what Klarion and Justin's arcs are about, bringing them to the point where they make the conscious choice to grow up and fight evil. Sally is never given the opportunity to grow up, and that is what makes her go along with her own exploitation.

The major issue I have with this issue is that Sally doesn't actually look that young. She's got massive breasts, in her post whistle form, I don't think anyone's mistaking her for a child. I can understand that DC might be uneasy with having someone who really does look like a child engaged in these porn films, but the disconnect between image and narrative ends up hurting the issue.

Sally is someone who's extremely jealous of what she can't have, namely a normal life, someone to grow old with. So, she lashes out at stable relationships and destroys them, a behavior pattern detailed by Thumbelina last issue.

It's in her relationship with Dennis that we see how Alix and Sally have the same basic issues. Dennis is someone who wants to exploit Sally to forward his own ends. In this book, being a superhero is tied up in all kinds of sexual issues, which makes Dennis' claim that he's happy to meet "Someone who believes in goodness and decency and honor" deeply ironic, particularly when two panels later he's telling her "Let's fight crime, Luv. Together." This is another spin on the sexual "team-up" that Lucian proposes in issue 3. Unlike Alix, Sally goes along with Dennis and allows him to mold her into a pornographic parody of the hero that she once was.

The scene with Dennis telling Sally he can't fight crime because they don't have enough money is another great moment where superheroing is brought down to Earth. In a lot of ways, Seven Soldiers is the first significant statement on what it would really be like to be a superhero since Watchmen. Watchmen had some of this street level, insignificant hero stuff, but it was mostly about Batman or Superman analogues. Here, we see what it's like for the c-list hero, people who aren't even able to be heroes because they need to work the "secret identity job.

I love the idea of "evil serum," it's another spin on the anti-life equation or the guilt monster, a reduction of all that's bad in the universe to one substance. The panel where Sally is smoking the cigarette and we see her through a cloud of smoke is fantastic. The cigarette in holder is such a classic evil prop and the art has lost its Golden Age clarity and become a moodier, more real style. Paquette's shifting styles throughout the mini are very impresssive, and other than the issues with Sally Sonic, he's done a fantastic job.

Sally Sonic is who Alix would have become if she'd gone along with what Lance wanted her to do, and when she defeats Sally, she finally resolves the anger she had over her husband's infidelity. The woman he loved was pathetic and damaged, unlike Alix who is still whole.

The end of the mini was pretty shocking. Due to the Sheeda invasion and the hurricance glimpsed in Guardian #4, the hospital is unable to send an ambulance for Sally. But, before she can move Sally, Alix meets Greg, and at long last is given the opportunity to claim the role as the seventh soldier that she abandoned long ago. I'm unsure the significance of Alix being a descendant of Earth's first superhero, but one function is clearly to emphasize Alix's importance in the overall plan. When she didn't go to Miracle Mesa, all involved died and the Sheeda gained a foothold on Earth. And now that she refuses to fight once again, things are not looking good for humanity.

Alix rejects Greg's offer to fight, saying that she doesn't "want anything more to do with this twisted, horrible world." This mini was all about the dark underbelly of the superhero world, the twisted sexuality and darkness of those on the superhero fringe. Alix tried to help people, but the superheroes she encountered were more concerned with having sex and promoting themselves. Any sense of actually helping people was lost, and Alix is not going to be caught up in this dark world anymore. It's a logical move, but it's clearly going to cause problems in Seven Soldiers #1. Presumably that will be about how she comes to terms with her issues and rediscovers the possibilities of heroism.

Greg reminds me of Frankenstein, both are old testament style heroes who are able to return from the dead. They are heroes who are needed in the world, and do what they have to do, but don't necessarily get enjoyment from it. It is their duty. In that sense, they are the total opposite of Alix, who is emotionally engaged in her heroism and is able to make the conscious choice to not go ahead with it. Greg has been brought back from the dead and "saddled with the job" of recruiting her, presumably by the seven unknown men. I'm guessing there's something to the issue of the choice to be a hero versus the duty of being a hero. Alix cannot be forced into the role of hero, it's a choice she has to make. I'm guessing that her innate goodness will eventually allow her to overcome her issues with the superhero world and embrace the role of do gooder. I would love to see her meet up with the Guardian while she's going through Manhattan in issue 1. The two are clearly parallel characters, people who had the role of hero forced onto them, at great personal expense. It's in the final moment of choosing whether to embrace that role that they differ.

I'll cover Frankenstein #4 in my next post, and also do a runthrough the whole series to date, picking out themes and concepts that recur and also do a bit of speculation on what will occur in issue 1.

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Seven Soldiers: The Complete Post Index (6/28/2006)

Freaks and Geeks: 'Pilot'

In the past couple of years, I've become all about the TV drama, watching many series all the way through and following a bunch that are still going. But, five or six years ago I wasn't as big into serial television. Around 1999, I got into The X-Files and a couple of other dramas, one was The West Wing and the other was Freaks and Geeks. I really enjoyed the show, but it was sadly cancelled after only a season. I've seen most of the episodes through the various reruns, but I've never actually watched the whole series through. So, with some free time on my hands, I decided to grab the season box set and watch the show through.

When I was first watching Freaks and Geeks, I was the age of the characters and engaged in my own journey through high school. But, three years out of high school, the series holds up very well, this is basically a TV version of Dazed and Confused, with the same very incisive writing full of real details that both poke fun at and celebrate the lives that their characters are leading.

This show looks totally different from anything else that's been on television and it's astounding that a show that creates such an insular world got the opportunity to do even one season on broadcast television. The opening shot quickly establishes the world of the series, bypassing a stereotypical TV high school couple to discover our characters sitting underneath some bleachers.

The show is notable for how perfectly crafted its dialogue is. There's so many quotable lines in here, but it's the unspoken awkwardness that makes the show so unique. I love the scene where Daniel introduces Lindsay to the freaks. Ken's lines there are spot on with what real high schoolers would say, and from the distanced perspective of a viewer of the show, it's easy to laugh at the moment that Lindsay finds herself in. Witness the exchange.

Ken: You're that girl who got an A.

Lindsay: Yeah, what're you gonna' do?

Ken: I don't know, what are you going to do?"

Classic. The pilot is notable for the way it throws you into this world without any of the usual pilot devices, like the new kid in school or something like that as a way to explain the world. To some extent, Lindsay is our guide inot the world of the freaks, but there's no obvious exposition. It's clear that something's changed in her, but it's not played as a cheap hook for the audience. The episode does give us the basic catalyst for what happened to her her grandmother's death, but it becomes more about the journey than any sort of solution to her dilemma.

For Lindsay, the whole series is about the fact that she no longer fits easily into any part of the high school society. She finds people like Millie's belief in an ordered universe false in light of what she's experienced. However, she can't fully commit to the nihlist view of the freaks. In this episode, she's all about trying to find a way to do good and constantly being put down by the world. However, in the end, she's able to take off her new persona, the jacket, and just dance and sail away.

If this was a standalone piece, one could read her taking off the jacket as Lindsay re-embracing her old identity, but considering it's an ongoing series, finding peace is not as easy as that. And that's a fine example of the superior storytelling possibilities in television. This pilot is a nice three act narrative, but the happy resolution we find here could feel a bit contrived if it was the end of the story. However, knowing that the series will continue means that it's not so easy for our characters to find peace.

The series' dual structure is one of its most interesting elements, the different views of these outsider groups. The geeks are just suffering through high school, clinging to that old cliche that in a few years you'll be these guys' boss, while the freaks are living the easiest years of their life, aware that the future holds unexciting jobs and a place where being a rebel doesn't get you anywhere.

As a high school student myself, I walked the line between the two groups, I've seen Star Wars more than 27 times, but I had that similar heavy apathy that Lindsay has. I've always found the freaks' storylines more interesting, normally Sam and his crew are used for comic relief, and when he does get into a romantic relationship wtih Cindy down the line, it's one of the few moments in the series that doesn't feel real. I find the extistential quest that Lindsay goes on a lot more interesting than Sam's firm belief in the system.

The scene I do love in this episode with the geeks is the conference with Harris, their sage. The other highlight is Sam's expression as the fast part of 'Come Sail Away' starts and his chance for a slow dance is lost. The series' soundtrack on the whole is fantatic, particularly the liberal doses of Styx. Another fun bonus is seeing Ben Foster a.k.a Six Feet Under's Russell. He looks very young here, though I'm sure part of that is the hairstyle he's got as Eli.

I think this is one of the best pilots of any series, a lot of shows, even good ones, take some time to find their voice, but this is one that was great right from the beginning. For me, the real core of the series is Lindsay and Linda Cardinelli is great, as the character struggles to find something to believe in.

I'll probably be doing more blogging on the series as I do the rewatch, so stay tuned.

Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein #2, Mister Miracle #3, Bulleteer #3

After trips to a bunch of comic stores I've finally got all the issues for the next chunk of Seven Soldiers. This second batch of books generally isn't quite up to the level of the masterful first batch, but, like with the first round, they're all becoming more interesting as the story progresses, and I'm becoming increasingly wary of waiting for the still unscheduled Seven Soldiers #1.

But, on to the issues themselves. Frankenstein appears to be taking the idea of each miniseries as a collection of four standalone stories a bit further than most of the other series. All the characters we saw last issue are absent other than the man himself who is now on Mars. The transition is a bit jarring, but it's something you just have to accept if you're going to enjoy the issue. The whole series takes place in a universe where weird stuff like this happens, in the DC Universe it's quite possible to take a jaunt over to Mars ande be back in time for the next issue.

Throughout the series, there have been some books that have a lot of crossover, like Zatanna and Shining Knight, and with this issue, it becomes clear that this issue is the brother series of Klarion, with this issue picking up a bunch of plot points left over from the destruction at the end of Klarion #4. The highlight of the issue is Melmoth's return and the way his appearance here unites a lot of disparate strands of the project. He's alienated from his wife, Gloriana, and the end of the issue leaves him as a wild card in the whole project. He's definitely of questionable morality, but he also seems to hold out the best hope of defeating the Sheeda.

Frankenstein is someone who's not ready to work with moral ammbiguity. He's on a mission to destroy Melmoth and will stop at nothing to do so, ignroing the fact that Melmoth could be an ally. Of course, we're not sure how Frankenstein feels about saving humanity, he's a character who's more about destroying evil than saving good. He might be happy to just let humanity destroy itself entirely. The fact that Frankenstein is in a sense Melmoth's son ties him into the conflict between children and the adult world that's been a consistent theme in the series. Frankenstein is the ultimate teenage rebel, someone who's always trying to show up his parent. Until he defeats Melmoth, he won't be able to grow up and move beyond this adolescent quest for vengeance. He too rejects the prospect of sexuality when he abandons the potential 'Girl Frankenstein' in issue 1.

As the issue ends, Melmoth is ground into shit, but you've got to assume he'll be back. He's too big a player in the overall story to be killed so simply, and the blood of the eternal cauldron still runs through his veins. The idea of immortality has been a consistent theme, it ties into the whole never grow up theme, with permanent youth being seen as both an ideal and a curse. More on that in Bulleteer #3. But for now, we're done with the Mars adventure and I'm assuming we'll see something entirely different next issue. Of the three new series, Frankenstein easily has the best and most appropriate art. It's wonderfully nasty and I love Mahnke's design of the reborn Melmoth.

So far, Mister Miracle has been my least favorite of all seven series. This issue is an improvement, but the series suffers from both its near total disconnection from the rest of the project and its difficulty to follow due to my lack of familiarity with the New Gods mythos. This issue gives you a better sense of the main character, and throws out a whole bunch of crazy concepts, but still doesn't quite come together.

The basic conflict here is between Shilo and the anti-life equation. The anti-life equation represents everything negative about society, and it manifests in the plastic people who now walk the streets. This anti-life equation consumes everything he loves, but he stubbornly maintains his individuality. The issue features some further exploration of illicit superhero sexuality, the plastic woman wielding the whip has a strong similarity to the three prostitutes that Shilo encounters in issue one.

Shilo's breakdown with the anti-life equation recalls Justin's encounter with the guilt monster in Shining Knight #2, though things go worse for him. I love the moment where he buys the Depends, that's hitting bottom. Though, it looks like he'll be able to bounce back next issue. On the whole, there's a lot of good stuff here, but it doesn't quite gel. I'ts more like someone else trying to write a Morrison comic than the man himself's writing. I think the series could have been more entertaining, if not actually better, if there was more connection with the overall mythos. There's some nice cameos by Klarion and Jake here, but other than that there's been no connection to the overall story. We'll see what happens in issue 4, there's got to be some kind of tie in.

Bulleteer is easily the best title of the second run, picking up on a lot of themes from Flex Mentallo, and continuing the plot threads of Seven Soldiers #0, which still stands as one of the most impressive issues out of this project. What that issue did was explore the world of the DCU from the perspective of low level superheroes. There's a lot of meta commentary on the comics industry itself, as well as an exploration of the nature of heroism. After its first issue, Bulleteer has backed off the exploration of Alix as an extremely sexualized heroine and is focusing more on Alix's introduction into the larger world of superheroics.

The revelation of I, Spyder is one of two fantastic "Holy shit" moments in the issue. Ever since his reappearance in Shining Knight I've been wondering what's up with him and it's great to see him back.

The relation between Stellamaris and her son is another example of parental conflict, the theme that is present in pretty much every aspect of the series. The continued focus on this issue would indicate that Misty could play a major role in defeating her mother, Gloriana. In Zatanna, Klarion and now Frankenstein, each character is haunted in some way by their parents, and, for Klarion and Zatanna, the series ends with our hero coming to terms with parental expectation and being set free to pursue his/her own agenda. I'm hoping Misty has a big role in the finale, but Klarion and Frank, as her half brothers, could be equally important in overthrowing their own tyrannical parental regime.

We don't know anything about Alix's parents, but the generational conflict is present in her discussion with the original Bulletgirl. In Klarion, the close mindedness of the older generation was a critical theme and we see that here, with Susan, a very close minded traditional person, telling Alix she looks like a hooker and is trading on the name that she worked hard to make good. So, once again, we see Alix being judged solely by her appearance not by her legitimate desire to do good.

Alix's miniseries is reminiscent of Manhattan Guardian in the sense that she's someone who's forced into being a superhero and goes along as an observer rather than participator in the world. She hasn't yet acheived that moment where she loses her self consciousness and transcends the line between "crazy fetish person" and superhero. If the series stays true to form, next issue will see her confront Sally and claim the mantle of hero for herself.

This issue picks up concepts from the first issue about the sexualization of female superheroes, their world's version of the madonna/whore dichotomy summed up in the title of the panel: "Sweethearts and Supervixens." The whole convention is clearly modeled on actual comic book conventions, with b-list heroes subbing in for b-list celebrities. In this kind of world, you'd clearly have a fan culture built around superheroes, and having been to a couple of cons, this issue perfectly captures the awkward desperation of b-list celebrities simultaneously happy to be adored and ashamed that they're not doing better.

This panel features the first modern day appearance of Li'l Hollywood, last seen in Manhattan Guardian #4. I love the fact that Li'l refers to Vincenzo as "Vinnie." Like her fellow members of the Newsboy Army, Li'l is trapped in a permanent youth, though she seems to have consciously chosen to do so, as her relationship with Lucian makes clear, she's trying to maintain her youth even as she is actually getting older and older. She is less overtly messed up than her fellow Newsboy members, but she does have a lot of issues. I love the page where she and her friends are talking about Jackie, it's the combination of mundane conversation and the ridiculous costumes everyone's wearing.

Thumbelina is a character right out of the superhero orgy in Flex Mentallo, someone who's using the superhero image without any actual belief in heroism. She's just using her powers for monetary gain, quite literally prostitutiing herself. She offers Alix this path, but Alix is still unwilling to function as just a sexual object. She wants to help people.

This dichotomy is brought up again in the next scene where Lucian propositions her with a "team-up" that's actually a sexual relationship. For people like Lucian, hoping to make it big as superheroes, there is no line between work and personal life. However, in the end, Alix turns his sexual attraction to her into an opportunity to build a heroic partnership that could end up helping people. That's what the whole series has been about, Alix is constantly perceived as a sexual object, but she refuses to conform to that image, she takes people's expectations and turns them around by being a hero.

Now, the other holy shit moment in the issue is the return of Greg. I love this moment, it confirms his role as the Clint Eastwood archetype in the series, and promises the continuation of drama from issue 0. Will we see the return of The Whip? Who knows, perhaps Seven Soldiers #1 will see a meeting between the original team and our soldiers from the minis. This new development has me very intrigued, and it's a great testament to Morrison's writing in SS0 that so many issue later, those characters still have me wanting more.

The final pages of the issue seem to throw Alix into yet another classic female superhero situation, the catfight. If the series continues along its thematic path, Alix will triumph over this woman who defines herself solely by her sexuality by continuing her commitment to heroism despite any personal issues she's got. Alix has taken the 'hooker' image that her husband gave her and is turning it into a legitimate heroic image.

So, four issues left to go, reviews will be up as I read them. Things are definitely picking up now, and hopefully the issue 4s will bring more of the threads together in preparation for the series' conclusion.

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Seven Soldiers: The Complete Post Index (6/28/2006)

Film Authorship Musings

Over the past month or so, I've been working editing an indie movie, a film that is notable for the fact that it's not particularly good, and this experience showed me a lot about why so many movies can end up so utterly lackluster. It's not necessarily a lack of talent, it's more a lack of vision. In the case of this film, and the vast majority of Hollywood films, the project lacks a singular vision. Someone wrote the script, someone else directed the movie, but the guy who's supervising me is the film's producer.

I came into the project when there was a pretty developed rough cut already down, pretty much all the footage was in place and it was my job to trim it down, I ended up cutting fifteen minutes of fat from the film, hopefully making it a lot more watchable. There might be a good film in the footage, but I wasn't given the autonomy to remake the film, and that's pretty much what needs to be done. As I was going through, I discovered one scene that wasn't in the cut, a crazy sequence involving a smoke machine, masks and a mass resistance dance. It was easily the best looking footage in the movie, the only thing that felt unique and exciting. So, I cut it together and put it in the movie. It's a one minute sequence and it was fantastic, but I was told to cut it down by a third or half. This is after I synch it to music, meaning that a lot of the scene's impact is lost in the re-edit.

So, I plead with him saying that it's the most exciting scene in the film, it's thematically critical and that it's just one minute so give me this. But, he tells me, "that's your opinion and this is my film, so cut it." I did it and it turned out alright, but the point was clearly made, I was not an aristic collaborator on this film, I was there to push buttons. And, after that I stopped caring about making the film better, this guy would make decisions I didn't agree with, but I couldn't bother fighting them, especially because for every tough decision his plan is just to show it to an audience and see what they think.

So, I could easily see how the editor of a Hollywood movie could stop caring when he's continually getting hassled by an executive to make the movie easier to follow or more conventional. At a certain point, it stops being artistic and just becomes a job.

This is why I'm such a firm believer in auteur filmmaking. What a film needs to be great is a singular vision, someone who's making a film not for money, but because it needs to be made and he'll do anything to make that fiction into a reality.

If you want to fight out why Hollywood movies are so bad, it doesn't take much more than to just look at the reason they're made, to make money. Does anyone have a desperate need to make 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'? No, it's more like someone's agent told them it'd be a good idea to make a big franchise movie, and the studio decided that 2 Fast 2 Furious had made some money, so why not do another one? This is where the test audience mentality comes from, if your sole goal in making a film is to sell it to audiences, it's very difficult to make a great film. The reason is great art can't be made by commitee, and for every good film that manages to slip through the system, there's countless bad ones.

When I'm doing my own work, I sometimes think about how something will play with an audience, but generally I'm more interested in how it plays for me. I'll think about the moments in films that I love, and try to replicate the feeling that they create. Maybe people will respond to it, maybe they won't, that's impossible to predict, and trying to create a film that will please the audience at the expense of your own tastes is a path to ruin.

Obviously some people go too far and create films that are unwatchable for anyone but them, but generally speaking, all great films can be traced to one persons' vision, at a moment where they got a brief moment of artistic freedom.

Earlier today, I watched the film Funky Forest at the Asian Film Festival. This is a movie that's totally unlike anything I've seen in America. The closest thing I can compare it to is 'Head,' the Monkees' film. Funky Forest is a stream of consciousness journey through a series of increasingly bizarre viginettes that blends elements of sci-fi, musical, romance and comedy to create a film that really defies description.

Watching the movie, it's clear that this is a director who knows what he wants. The film's 2.5 hours, and you could easily cut an hour, but the film's long running time immerses you in this guy's world. This is a film that doesn't care about focus groups or appealing the audience, it is what it is and you can take it or leave it on those terms. I don't think it's always successful, but taken cumulatively it's a wonderfully bizarre experience and something totally unlike anything else I've ever seen. It's one of the most exciting films I've seen all year because the film just plunges into bizarre ridiculousness and takes you along with it.

The film was actually made by a three director team, and I don't think that contradicts the auteur theory. What you need is not necessarily a single person, just a singular vision, and this film clearly has that. Once you have that singular vision, it's a lot easy to collaborate. If you know what you want, it's a lot easier to see if a collaborator's suggestions fit the vision, rather than trying to rely on a test audience to find out what works and what doesn't.

For me, narrative clarity is always less important than emotional clarity and visual impact. You can ask a test audience to describe what they were confused about, but you can't really figure out what had an emotional impact on them. That's the greatest enigma of filmmaking, and that's why I ultimately choose to make a film that I love, so that if nothing else, at least I know one person enjoyed it. But when you've got $150 million invested in a film, making a good film isn't good enough, and that's the major problem. I'd have no clue how to market Funky Forest, but I do know that if people got to see it, they'd probably enjoy it. And that's the big problem for Hollywood, it's more important to get people in the door than have them liking the film on the way out.

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The Best Songs: Part I

I was thinking of trying to make a list of my favorite 100 songs of all time, but I feel like that might be too transient. Tastes change, and any list would be largely determined on my mood at the moment. So, a year ago I put together a list of my 100 favorite songs, which I'll post here now. And, every quarter year or so, I'm going to add another 25, and create an evolving favorite song list. So, here's the first 100 that I put together last year.

Aimee Mann Invisible Ink
Aimee Mann Save Me
Air Electronic Performers
Air How Does it Make You Feel?
Air Playground Love
Air Sexy Boy
Annie Heartbeat
Catatonia Dead from the Waist Down
Catatonia Road Rage
Catatonia Strange Glue
Daft Punk Digital Love
Daft Punk Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Daft Punk One More Time
Daft Punk Too Long
David Bowie Heroes
Doves Pounding
Doves Snowden
Doves There Goes the Fear
Doves Words
Electric Light Orchestra Do Ya
Electric Light Orchestra Evil Woman
Electric Light Orchestra Livin' Thing
Electric Light Orchestra Mission
Enigma Beyond the Invisible
Gorillaz Clint Eastwood
Gwen Stefani Cool
Gwen Stefani The Real Thing
Gwen Stefani What You Waiting For
Isaac Hayes Walk on By
Justus Boyz Uh Oh
Led Zeppelin Bring it on Home
Led Zeppelin In the Light
Led Zeppelin No Quarter
Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven
Led Zeppelin Tangerine
Led Zeppelin The Rain Song
Led Zeppelin When the Levee Breaks
Lovage Archie and Veronica
Lovage Book of the Month
Lovage Sex (I'm A)
Lovage Stroker Ace
Lovage To Catch a Thief
Love Alone Again Or
Mamas and the Papas California Dreamin'
Moby Everloving
Moby Extreme Ways
Moby We Are All Made of Stars
Morrissey Everyday is like Sunday
Morrissey First of the Gang to Die
Morrissey Hairdresser on Fire
Morrissey Irish Blood, English Heart
Morrissey The World is Full of Crushing Bores
N.E.R.D Lapdance
Outkast Gasoline Dreams
Phoenix Alphabetical
Phoenix Everything is Everything
Pink Floyd Breathe
Pink Floyd Comfortably Numb
Pink Floyd Eclipse
Pink Floyd Hey You
Pink Floyd Time
Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here
Radiohead Exit Music
Radiohead Fake Plastic Trees
Radiohead High and Dry
Radiohead Karma Police
Radiohead Lucky
Radiohead Paranoid Android
Radiohead Street Spirit
The Beatles A Day in the Life
The Beatles Hey Jude
The Beatles I am the Walrus
The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles While My Guitar Gently Weeps
The Church Under the Milky Way
The Crystal Method Trip Like I Do
The Eurythmics Sweet Dreams
The Flaming Lips Do You Realize
The Grassroots Midnight Confessions
The Polyphonic Spree Hold Me Now
The Polyphonic Spree Light and Day
The Polyphonic Spree Two Thousand Places
The Polyphonic Spree We Sound Amazed
The Rolling Stones You Can't Always Get What You Want
The Smiths Bigmouth Strikes Again
The Smiths There is a Light that Never Goes Out
Three Dog Night One
Travis Sing
Travis Why Does it Always Rain on Me?
Tupac California Love
U2 Acrobat
U2 City of Blinding Lights
U2 Discotheque
U2 Lemon
U2 One
U2 Staring at the Sun
U2 Stay
U2 Ultraviolet
U2 Walk On
Underworld Born Slippy

And in the next couple of days, I'll put together an additional 25 to update things for the present.

Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein #1, Mister Miracle #2, Bulleteer #2

Frankenstein has one of the odder openings for a Seven Soldiers series, focusing not so much on the title character as on a town possessed by the Sheeda. We do get a nice action scene to open things, showing us a different, more human incarnation of Melmoth. I'm not sure what makes this Melmoth appear more human, while the one from Klarion looked very Sheeda, it may be just an art issue, or it could be that Melmoth is able to change his appearance. I suppose dying and being reborn could result in the change.

The tale of Uglyhead reminds me of 'Earshot' from Buffy, in which Buffy got the ability to read everyone's minds and discovered that they're all deeply insecure, even the seemingly most popular people. The idea that Uglyhead sees their thoughts as cartoon bubbles above their heads recalls the Max Thunderstone Buddhismo issue of The Filth. I think the thought balloon is something that was abused so horribly by comics in the past that it's easy to forget the fact that it can be used in interesting ways, and we get some good stuff here. The thought balloon brings comics closer to books and away from cinema, which isn't necessarily a good thing, but can be used to ones advantage.

This story is definitely treading in territory I've seen before, but there's a couple of things that keep it from falling into cliche. One is the fact that this Uglyhead is a nasty guy, rather than being the misunderstood sensitive guy, he's a totally corrupted person and the story embraces his depravity. We look at things from a Sheeda perspective, watching this ugly, bad humans in an awful world. There's not much worth keeping here.

The emergence of Frankenstein himself is great and it's satisfying to watch him raze this corrupted school. Frankenstein has a much darker view of things than our other heroes. All the others are relatively young, new heroes with a high degree of uncertainty. Frankenstein is someone who's seen it all and knows what he has to do to defeat the Sheeda. He is driven by vengeance, he's acting against bad rather than for good. And notably, he leaves behind his potential new "Girl Frankenstein" sidekick to walk alone.

This series seems a lot darker than the others we've seen so far, the art has a very dirty feel, which works perfectly with the story content. The first four books all had art that fit perfectly with the story, this is the only book of the second volume where there's that same perfect match between style and content. Of the second batch of books, this is my favorite so far.

However, I'm still not too keen on Mister Miracle. The major issue is that it's drawing on a lot of Jack Kirby's New Gods material, and I'm not particularly familiar with that stuff. So, I'm feeling out of depth in the characters' world. The opening does have a nice throwback to the Blind Chessman of the Invisibles, and this issue gives you a better sense of an ordinary guy caught in a situation where he's totally out of depth. He's a celebrity, which makes it even more difficult for him to be taken seriously when he's talking about this larger world that he's become caught up in.

The core of the series seems to be that the New Gods have fallen and have now become a group of insane people on the streets. This ties back to stuff from Manhattan Guardian #4, the newsboy army that splintered and fell into an awful, dark state. And now, there's apparently some big conspiracy going on with the doctor and the guy who's watching the homeless people, seeking to take the Mother Box and presumably use its powers to serve Dark Seid. I think the psychiatrist's interrogation fo teh blond woman is fantastic, but it's just difficult to keep track of what's going on, and that means that it's hard to emotionally engage with the series. Plus, we don't have much of a sense of how this fits into the series as a whole, I'm hoping we get to see the Sheeda soon.

Bulleteer #2 goes in a very different direction from the previous issue, picking up FBI Agent Helligan, last seen in Shining Knight #3, bitten by the Sheeda Queen. Apparently she's recovered and is now investigating the incident at Miracle Mesa.

Prior to this, Seven Soldiers #0 functioned primarily as a thematic prelude, with a few small references throughout the other books. However, with this issue it moves to the fore and we begin to get a better sense of what happened back there. I love the reference to Tom's appearance change, his rebuilding by the Seven Unknown Men. SS0 is such a strong issue, it's still chilling to see the people who died there, particularly their rapid descent from triumph to death. We see here for the first time the actual death of Greg and Shelly as well as the conversion of Tom Dalt into a Sheeda Servant.

I like Helligan's line about post modern superheroes. Clearly, in this world that would be the way to stand out, if everyone else is wearing a costume and fighting crime, go the minimalist and fight crime in regular cltohes. At this point, Alix is someone who's still not quite made the jump to hero, Helligan brings her as a visual prop,not for her actual powers. In that sense, she's still be used, defined by her appearance, in the same way that she was by her husband. However, the central irony of the series is still present, she's there for her strength, but at the same time is scared to go into the prison wearing her costume. The character is all about the fusion of traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine attributes.

There always seems to be someone who summons the Sheeda and betrays the Seven. Going over SS0, you can easily see where Boy Blue betrays the team, a lot of where this issue is successful is not so much on its own terms, but redefining the way we view SS0. I'm not sure if this is the final coda for those characters or if more of them will return later. Certainly Spyder is still out there, working for Glorianna, but the rest of them seem to be definitively dead.

The finale serves as a meta commentary on the nature of superhero, tying into themes from Watchmen. There, Hollis' book addressed the idea that it looked ridiculous if only one person came to the crime scene dressed up, but if the villain was dressed up too, it made sense. So, Alix still feels vaguely ridiculous, "it's not like being a superhero at all." However, the threat of the new nemesis who is apparently within her mist could be just the thing to help Alix definitively claim her role as hero.

In the long term, this issue deals more with ideas of heroism, particularly the American cowboy. For Ramon, Saunders is just a racist, but in cultural terms he's venerated as a hero, though certainly an outmoded one by this point. The other major thing at issue is the Sheeda themselves, Helligan says that they're from the future. That would explain why Neh-buh-loh says he got a brain from a 31st century person to give to the Queen instead of Misty. It's possible that his one lapse into emotion, the decision to spare Misty, will be what ultimately brings about the Sheeda downfall. I really hope that Misty turns up in one of these upcoming books.

Looking to the future, I'm going to grab the rest of what's available in singles, and catch up before Seven Soldiers #1 comes out, which is now looking like it will be in September. I'm hoping it's longer than the originally solicited 32 pages, there's too much story to fit in that small a book.

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Seven Soldiers #0 (5/17/2006)
Seven Soldiers: Klaron #4, Mister Miracle #1, Bulleteer #1 (6/15/2006)
Zatanna #4 (6/15/2006)

Seven Soldiers: Klarion #4, Mister Miracle #1, Bulleteer #1

First, just a quick followup on Zatanna. One of the things I love most about Seven Soldiers is the way that it's forced Morrison out of his comfort zones. In the case of Zatanna, that meant a return to a relatively realistic setting and everyday emotional struggles. In this respect, it has a lot in common with one of his best works, Kill Your Boyfriend. If KYB was required reading in high schools, we'd have a lot more people falling in love with comics.

Anyway, on the conclusion of the first wave of minis. Klarion has been the only one of the first four that didn't really click for me. Issue 2 was great, but other than that it's just felt a lot less emotionally urgent than the others. I never got a strong sense of Klarion as a character because he's defined entirely in relation to the society he comes from.

It turns out that Klarion and all the Kroatoans are Sheeda hybrids, fathered by Mister Melmoth. Melmoth is another incarnation of the devil archetype we've seen from Zatanna. I love Melmoth gloating about having sex with the Puritan girls, his freedom here is so far removed from the repressed culture Klarion comes from. If they are victims of complete repression and withdraw from the material world, Melmoth is someone who goes too far in indulging in its vices.

This ties us back into one of the primary issues of the series, the difficult transition from childhood to sexually mature adulthood. Melmoth represents the potentially deviant violent expression of sexuality. He's the charismatic center of the book, a lot more fun than Klarion himself.

While I didn't love this issue, it is a satisfying final fight. Teekl seems to be an avatar of Klarion's aggression, and here we see them literally fuse into some kind of new form. We find out that Melmoth has bathed in the cauldron of rebirth, implying that he's meant up with Gloriana at some point between Shining Knight #4 and this issue.

So, we end with Klarion having safeguarded his village going off to battle the sheeda aboveground. This is a neat resolution of his character arc, first he runs away from his village, shamed, and wanders above ground without purpose. But, by the end he's gained the respect of the village, saved it from outside intruders and now returns above ground to save the world he's just seen. It was a pretty good series, but I just didn't dig the Puritan setting that much, and the art, while aesthetically fantastic, wasn't as emotionally enveloping as that of the other series.

It's a bit jarring to all of a sudden plunge into new stories after getting used to our first four soldiers. True to form to the other series, the first issues of Mister Miracle and Bulleteer are generally removed from the overall Sheeda story, though presumably we'll see connections emerging as we forge ahead.

Mister Miracle is based on Jack Kirby's New Gods characters, and I'm not sure if it's that I haven't read that, or just the issue itself, but I was rather confused and a bit overwhelmed by this. It makes sense, but it's a lot to take in, and unlike the other soldiers, we don't really get a sense of Shilo as a character.

I do like the opening sequence, where Shilo slips through into another dimension, though I'm not sure how Metron ties into the Seven Unknown Men. If we're proceeding from the assumption that the higher beings appear in a form suited to the world of the protagonist, it makes sense that Miracle would meet this diety dressed as a superhero.

The basic issue for Shilo is that he stumbles into this higher realm and finds it difficult to return to his old lifestyle as a celebrity daredevil. His life feels insignificant in light of this massive "war in heaven" that's going on all around him. It makes him need more from his life than just the perks of celebrity. Later in the issue, the twisted demon prostitutes tie into the theme of sexuality as deviant destructive force that's running through the whole series.

This leads us into the most sexually driven series of all that we've seen so far, Bulleteer, a character and series that have all kinds of issues with sexuality going on. In Manhattan Guardian #4, we saw sexuality as something that destroyed the utopian existence of our childhood heroes, the inevitable encroach of age and maturity into childhood. Aging is played as a destructive force in Klarion, and the major issue with Zatanna is how her guilt causes her quest for the "man of her dreams" to go awry. She's the only soldier who seems to have reconciled her issues, everyone is left broken by the approach of adulthood.

Alix is the opposite of what we saw in MG4, she's someone who's totally defined by her sexuality and is threatened by aging, not because it will take away her childhood, but because it will take away her sexual assets. This is a series that's sort of like those movies that tell an incredibly violent story as a way of examining the nature of violence itself. You're forced to simultaneously engage with the material on a surface appeal level and as a comment on that appeal. Reading the series, it's almost ridiculous how much Alix's breasts are emphasized, and as the reader, we are inclined to treat her as just a body, rather than a fully formed character. So, we're put in the same position as her husband, focused just on her body and not on the actual person.

I think the character design sufficiently emphasizes her assets that some of the outfits and poses are a bit excessive, but it's also understandable considering Morrison's point is to examine the nature of the gaze directed at Alix.

This issue is a return to form after the muddled introduction of Mister Miracle. We're quickly aware of who Alix is, and also who her husband is. I was surprised by just how much is in this issue, both thematically and in terms of story progress. I particularly like the way that Morrison intercuts the operating room with quick snippets of Alix and Lance's past, letting us know in just a couple of pages everything we need to know about them. These are beautiful, successful people, and Lance is worried that's not going to last.

Lance, like the Newsboy Army, is desperately frightened of aging. He has a dream that Alix is dead, and despite being only 27, he's aware that before they know it, they'll both be old. So, it's fitting that he would be attracted to online porn with Sexy Sally the Eternal Superteen. Sally was last seen in Zatanna #1, incredibly angry at the fact that she couldn't age. Yet, for Lance, her gift is everything he wants for both him and his wife.

The other element Lance is fixated on is being a superhero. In this world, superheroes are the celebrities, better than your average person and the center of attention. He's clearly someone who's always wanted to be famous, and as he's getting older, he sees the chances of that slipping away. For him, being famous and adored by the public is equal to being loved. He doesn't even recognize that he's losing touch with the woman who actually does love him.

With his metallic compound, Lance would solve both his problems, freezing the aging process and propelling him and his wife into the superhero world. Speaking about the original Bulletman, he says the brilliant line: "Everybody loved them. Except Hitler and the Nazis."

This leads us to the idea of this community of people seeking to become superheroes, putting their lives at risk to do so. This was an idea first addressed in SS0, and it's an idea that I love. In the world of the DCU, people like Superman and Batman are like gods, and if there's the possibility that by putting on a costume and fighting crime you could be like them, then someone who's dissatisfied with their life would likely put everything at risk to reach that status. It's about the search for purpose, that transcendent moment where you cease to be a "crazy fetish person" and become a superhero. For me, that line from SS0 contains the basic essence of the entire series, it's all about people seeking to find their purpose and get lost in the possibilities of fighting for good.

However as Zatanna makes clear in Z4 to become a superhero is all about selflessness, it's about making the choice to fight for the good of others while putting yourself at risk. So, people like Lance who see superheroing as a way to bring fame and fortune to themselves are completely misguided, if the minis prior to this have shown us anything it's that fighting for good is the hardest thing to do.

The idea of superhero porn ties back to Morrison's own Flex Mentallo, which featured an issue with an orgy of superheroes. Here, we see a more realistic view, people dressing up and playing superhero for online porn sites. This again ties back to the central line about the border between being a crazy fetish person and being a superhero, for Lance indulging in the pornographic fantasy is not enough, he pushes further, trying to make it real, and ends up getting destroyed by his desire.

There's so much conflicting symbolism in Alix's Bulleteer get up. This is a woman who heretofore has been defined by her beautiful looks and now she finds that she's not even able to work at her job anymore because the kids are scared of her. Her greatest asset has become her greatest liability, she's got a gorgeous body, but it's perpetually encased in a metallic sheath. So, she can never actually touch anyone.

Alix is left with no choice but to bea a superhero, and she takes on the mantle her husband intended for her, Bulleteer. Now, she's become this fusion of phallic object and decidedly feminine body, all the while actually cut off from sexuality. So, she's acheived the dream of the Newsboy Army, she's frozen in time in this one spot, totally sexualized, but at the same time completely removed from sexuality.

This first issue has a lot of great stuff, and I'm interested to see what happens to Alix from here. I've got no idea what kind of adventures she'll have, but I suppose we'll find out soon enough.

So, not too much of the overall story to ponder here. Presumably, the Sheeda will turn up again pretty soon, though we've still got one more first issue to go, Frankenstein.

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Seven Soldiers: Manhattan Guardian #4 (6/5/2006)
Seven Soldiers: Zatanna #4 (6/15/2006)
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Seven Soldiers: Zatanna #4

I've also read Klarion #4 and Mister Miracle #1, which are chronologically earlier than this issue, however, I'll get to those later, because this is an issue that deserves its own review, an issue that has now bumped off Manhattan Guardian #4 as my favorite issue of any Seven Soldiers book, and cemented Zatanna as by far the best of the Seven Soldiers series.

The whole series, and particularly this issue, feel like it was specifically targetted to appeal to me. It's like Gilmore Girls meets Buffy, but with Grant's themes and motifs thrown in there! I seriously doubt that anyone else could make something that hits on so many of the things I like.

The opening of the issue continues the Rory and Lorelai dynamic that Misty and Zatanna share, very close, and nicely poking fun at some of the more absurd stuff from the character's past. Zatanna is the most recognizable of the soldiers, and Morrison takes advantage of this, using the character's sometimes absurd past as a base to build her character from. The idea is that her ridiculous getups are "part of your magic" is very cool, implying that the construction of one's self image is an act of magical creation. The definition of magic is building something out of nothing, so Zatanna is able to build a superhero self image where really there's a lot of self doubt. As she says, she likes being on stage, because there she can escape from the concerns that hound her in her everyday life.

The series has shown how superheroing can be an escape from personal problems previously, in SS0, notably with The Whip, raising the issue of where the line is between a "crazy, fetish person" and a superhero. Zatanna adds another layer because she is someone is quite explicitly a performer, playing a role, and the creation of that alternate self image is her magic. When Misty puts on her jacket, she is affirming her adoration for Zatanna, even though she may be a Sheeda princess, she clearly meant what she said when she talked about how much she admired Zatanna back in issue 1.

So, that's what page one has to tell us about these characters. Morrison is perfectly suited to the comic book medium because his work is so dense. I feel like he and Moore couldn't work in film because their works are so full of ideas, it frequently takes a long time to process, and the fact that you can go through a comic at any speed really helps in picking up on their stuff. This issue took me 25 minutes to read, for 22 comic book pages, when I usually read prose at about a page a minute. That's how dense and affecting this issue is.

It's cool to see Vanguard still going despite the fact that his series has ended, though Misty and Zatanna's farewell is the emotional high point of the beginning of this issue. One of the few minor missteps in the issue for me is the "your very own crisis line," just because we're at such an emotional place there, and that took me out of the story a bit. If you read it as Zatanna joking to cover her sadness, it makes sense, but it just didn't quite make it for me. Though, I will say that on this page, Zatanna was just so Lorelai Gilmore it's hard to believe it wasn't intentional.

I really like the move into first person narration for the rest of the issue. It helps ground us in the emotional base of the story while all this crazy stuff is going on. This opening stuff gives us a pretty definitive answer on what makes someone a superhero, and confirms that the six from SS0 were heroes. It's all about being willing to sacrifice yourself to save others, to be a superhero is to take the initiative and fight where others stand down. The monologue on that page is one of the most eloquent summations of heroism I've read.

The initial appearance of Zor was a bit jarring, because he's such a ridiculous character, introducing himself as "evil incarnate." This series is largely about exorcising demons, removing the old, outdated ideas to pave the way for new ones, something that was most explicitly addressed in the battle with the tempter in issue 3. In this respect, Zatanna herself is much like the Sheeda, but she's fighting to remove outdated ideas, while the Sheeda are fighting to prevent humanity from moving forward. So, it's the classic Invisibles battle, the two sides need each other to make each other stronger.

The blue panel of Zatanna being shot is disturbing and I love the intercutting of lightning into the panels. Reading Mister Miracle made me appreciate just how perfect all the artists were for the first phase of Seven Soldiers. Sook may not be as flashy as Bianchi or Irving, but with this issue, he proves that he can do near anything and keep it emotionally grounded. His work here is perfect.

Zor is a twisted version of Zatanna's father, so it makes sense that while she's searching for her father, he's looking for a daughter. It's notable that he calls Zorina his "black flower," because the flowers themselves represented those who are corrupted by the Sheeda. I'm not sure if Zor is actually with the Sheeda, the issue seems to imply that he's summoned them to Earth, and if he's evil incarnate, it could mean that humanity's sin has brought the Sheeda down to Earth. However for the purposes of this issue,w hat's critical is that Zorina is Zatanna's dark doppleganger.

However, it seems that something of Zatanna remains and in a wonderful moment she casts a spell that restores Zatanna. The whole thing has a very kinky vibe, which ties into the Elektra complex that underlies a lot of the series. Zatanna has idealized her father and this is preventing her from having any kind of stable relationship, from finding the man of her dreams. She still has all these unresolved issues of inadaquecy, and guilt stemming from Identity Crisis. Initially, her quest for the man of her dreams leads to the unleashing of this demon, Gwydion. However, over the course of the series she has tamed her desire, and is now able to use it to her advantage, the man of her dreams is no longer someone who will save her, it's someone who can aid her in trying to acheive what she is seeking. It's an ally.

I love the idea of "an alphabet trapped in a tree that waits to become a book," that's such a Morrison a line, telling us that this Gwydion is all of thought potential, not limited by the confines of physical space. He's able to aid Zatanna as she moves into this magical realm.

Zor torments Zatanna with her feelings of inadaquecy, the idea that she isn't a good superhero, a disappointment to her father. However, she takes his barbs and dismisses them. So, evil incarnate turns out to be Zatanna's own self doubt, and to battle with it, she has to reassert her own self worth. It's a fantastic device because it allows Morrison to resolve all the issues that were laid out in the series while still engaging in big superhero action stuff. In light of the series' gender issues, one could read a lot into the line "It's a magnificent beard and I know you want one," which plays on Zatanna's feeling that she isn't living up to her father's legacy.

From here, we go into another classic Morrison thing, peeling back 2-D space to move into a realm beyond traditional space-time. The top panel of the "no encores" two page spread brings everything crashing down to Earth and exposes the absurdity of the whole venture. The whole of Seven Soldiers is about searching for the transcendent moment when self consciousness disappears and one can just be a hero. Each of the characters has fluctuated between self conscious self doubt and commitment to what has to be done. And these two symmetrical panels play that conflict.

The reaching hands page is another incredible Morrison moment. He's gone to this territory a lot, most notably in Animal Man, where the title character reached outside of his universe, or Grant Morrison reached into his. Here, Zatanna doesn't make it to our world, rather she reaches into some kind of higher plane within the DCU, something we've seen teased quite a bit, but never gotten full insight into. Clearly, there's a metafiction element, with their floating letters and typewriter keys, plus these guys' physical resemblence to Grant. However, what we've got is more the idea that these Seven Unknown Men are deities within the DCU, always present, looking down on the heroes. In meta terms, they would be the ones bringing about the continuity revisions, updating heroes as they did to Spyder in SS0.

Zatanna is apparently the first hero to reach beyond the physical plane of the DCU, up into this higher plane. Here, we get some insight into what's going on with the Sheeda. It seems that The Renegade, who took the form of Zor to battle with Zatanna, opened up some kind of rift that allowed the Sheeda into the universe. The "Time Tailors" are responsible for keeping things in order in the universe, but this 'Renegade' has caused a major problem and now they've assembled this team to fight the Sheeda threat. The trials that the Soldiers experience during their individual scenes may all be engineered by the Seven Unknown Men, as a way of providing them with the training and experience that the SS0 team did not have. It's all about preparing them for the final confrontation. That's why it's fitting that once each soldier reaches a place where they're ready to fight the Sheeda, their series ends, and their story will presumably pick up again with SS1.

There's definite meta stuff here, the card that Zatanna is holding seems to be a caption box, illustrating her thoughts. Plus, we've got the idea that these guys' 'records' are actually all the characters in the DCU. If you're writing this universe, you would be able to summon anyone, be they dead or alive in continuity. This ties into Morrison's idea of the supercontext, because all human life on the planet is connected, it would be possible for these guys to move through spacetime and bring Zatanna's dad back.

The whole Seven Soldiers project seems to be aabout doing a treatment of the same concepts developed as The Invisibles and The Filth, but within the confines of the DCU, and the superhero genre. It's a fascinating idea and the series has so many layers, commenting on both our reality and the nature of fiction.

The next page is one of the most powerful moments in anything that Morrison has done. Obviously, I love The Invisibles, but I feel like Morrison's recent work has been more emotionally affecting than his older stuff. We3 was a very emotional read, and this is another moment that just touches something so primal and emotional. For the whole series, we've watched Zatanna struggle with her lack of confidence, her guilt and feeling that she's letting her father down. However, here she finds out that he loves her so much he sees her as his legacy. The idea of Zatanna as his books is such a powerful metaphor because it works on both an emotional level and a metafictional level.

This final moment between the two of them really got to me, I couldn't move on to the next panel, I just stayed in that place for a little bit. It's brilliant writing and a fantastic conclusion to the character's emotional arc, her father's love confirmed, Zatanna can now go on living as his legacy.

More than any of the other books, this series has a pretty solid conclusion. Zatanna is rehibilitated and she is now ready to be a hero again. It's notable that she is able to resolve her own parental issues by becoming a parent figure to Misty, and if they stay together, Zatanna can redeem Misty from her past, and create a new legacy for herself.

Emotional issues resolved, Zatanna is ready for a new adventure. She is no longer running from her role as a superhero, she embraces it, and it looks like she and Misty will now join the other heroes in defending the world in SS1.

This is the most satisfying conclusion to an SS series, but it's also the one I'd most like to see continue. In Zatanna, Morrison made a hero who's unlike anything he'd done before and gave her a wonderful mix of crazy magic stuff and totally down to Earth emotional issues. It's the same thing that made Buffy so potent, the fact that she would work out her emotional conflicts through this apocalyptic battles. That said, even if we didn't see anymore, she gets such a perfect finale, and the moment where she meets her father is one of the best things Morrison's ever written.

But, there are some lingering issues. These "time tailors" seem to be decidedly good, aiding Zatanna and assembling the soldiers at the start of the series. So, is the "Time Tailor" seen in MG4 a Sheeda agent? A rogue Unknown Man? I suppose we'll have to read on and find out. Other stuff I'd really like to see, Misty's adventures in Tibet and more of the Newsboy Army.

So, great work here creating something that's both pop fun and emotionally grounded. I wish I'd mentioned to Grant when I saw him that I would love to see him and Sook team up for some more "Thelma and Louise meets Bewitched" style misadventures.

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Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight #4, Zatanna #3 (6/3/2006)
Seven Soldiers: Manhattan Guardian #4 (6/5/2006)
Seven Soldiers: Klarion #4, Mister Miracle #1, Bulleteer #1 (6/15/2006)

Battlestar Galactica: 'Lay Down Your Burdens' (2x19 & 2x20)

In my last review, I talked about how the show had never really developed any new plots after it resolved the stuff from season one in the big two parter, Home. This is a large part of the problems in the second chunk of season two, there was no direction to the show and most of the characters didn't have much to do. Now, it would have been possible to reinvigorate things by creating new character complications, however there was a sense that the premise as was had basically exhausted itself. It's telling that the only great episode in the season so far was the cylon episode, which had barely anything aboard the Galactica.

The season finale's first part opens with an overture sequence that recalls that fantastic start of Kobol's Last Gleaming. Talking about the first 100 minutes of this 135 minute two parter is a bit weird at this point, what you take away from it has very little to do with the vast majority of the events that occur.

I did like Sharon going on the mission to get the soldiers back from Caprica. For me, Sharon is by far the most sympathetic character on the series, this is someone who's constantly helping these people and still getting no respect. What more can she do to make them trust her? At this point, if she does betray them, it's not going to be because of some hidden cylon agenda, it's going to be because they treated her like shit for so long. If the storyline was done in reverse and a human prisoner was treated this way by the cylons, we'd be waiting for her to betray them.

At this point in the series, I feel like there's no inherent good and evil in the human/cylon relationship. As we've seen more the cylon world, it's become clear that there is division in their ranks, and they're recognizing that what they did to the humans was misguided. Plus, I just find the cylon world to be fascinating and on the whole, they're much more interesting characters.

The supposed moral authorities of the series are Laura and Adama, however the election plot just makes me like Laura even less. It's ridiculous for her to put the two Dean Stockwells out the airlock, even if he is working against the humans, this isn't a machine, it's a person with a unique personality, and killing him is just as bad as the cylons. Her constant opposition to Sharon, particularly the cruel taking of her child makes her an easily dislikable character, and attempting to steal the election only reinforces that. This is someone who's become corrupt in her power and awfully misguided.

This is a case where I feel like my emotional reading of the piece is not what the creators intended. Listening to the commentary, they indicated that the dilemma was supposed to be whether Laura does the honest thing or the thing that will ultimately help people. However, I don't see it like that at all. For one, considering these people have been trapped on their ships, on the run for a long time, it's perfectly logical to suggest settling on a planet, particularly when their ultimate destination is something that's only mentioned in ancient scriptures. They could be going for years and still not find Earth, so is it so absurd for Baltar to suggest moving to the planet?

I find Baltar's brand of moral ambiguity much more interesting than Laura's because the show treats him as a roguish character, while Laura is still held up as a paragon of virtue. Yes, he may inadvertantly lead to the destruction of Cloud Nine, and he may not be an ideal president, but your average person probably has a better life on New Caprica than they would if they were stuck on the ship still.

There were two really great scenes in the first chunk of part two. One was Lee's awkward walk in on Cara and Anders. This scene was a lot of fun for the fact that Cara was so oblivious to Lee's feelings, she was just totally lost in her moment. I also liked the gender reversal here, having her so possessive of a guy who is just on the show to be her boyfriend. You usually don't get to see relationships where the female character is both our point of view character and the one totally in control of the relationship.

The other great scene was the intercutting of Baltar and Gina's sex with his swearing in as president. It was really well shot, with a nice music cue and a great build to the nuclear explosion. I would have loved to have seen some more scenes with Gina during the weak part of the season, there was a ton of issues they could have covered with her, and considering her major role in the climax of the season, it would have been a wise choice to give her a bit more screen time.

So, from there we go to the great leap forward. I had heard there was some kind of shocking revelation that would change everything, and this was pretty surprising and certainly a smart creative choice for the next season. I love the initial jump forward, revealing Baltar's portrait and his harem of female admirers.

This time shift opens up a lot of creative possibilities and most of the rest of the episode is about revealing how things have changed for the main characters. The whole thing, from the meteor hitting the camera on, is full of throwbacks to the miniseries.

I guess the biggest issue I have with the end is the way the cylons are portrayed. In Downloaded, we're led to believe that the 'cylon heroes' will be changing cylon society and possibly seeking peace with the humans. Here, we find out that the cylons have abandoned Caprica and aren't going to fight anymore, so what is it that prompts them to return to go after the humans again? And what is it that prompts the 'cylon heroes' to decide to conquer New Caprica? I hope this is actually dealt with and not just written off as the cylons being bad.

There's a lot of potential with the new setup, the most interesting interactions on the show are those that takes place in the border between cylon and human society, and we'll be getting a lot more of that with everyone on one planet now. I think one of the big problems with the second chunk of season two was the fact that we no longer had the Caprica story, so we lost track of the cylons plan. Now, cylons and humans are inextricably linked.

What I hope we'll get is Six and Baltar reuninted, and Baltar working with her to try to find peace between the two races. Plus, we could get a bit of a love triangle with Sharon, the Chief and Callie. Plus, the cylon baby is still in play.

On the whole, I'd say it was a very smart choice, but not one that guarantees success. Alias did a similar jump at the end of season two and totally botched the follow up, leading to the series' decline. However, I feel like Battlestar has a stronger hand behind it, and we should get a strong rebirth with the third season.

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Battlestar Galactica (2x04-2x07) (3/26/2006)
Battlestar Galactica (2x08-2x10) (5/19/2006)
Battlestar Galactica: 'Downloaded' (2x18) (6/7/2006)